Wow, after three meh books, I hit the jackpot with this stunning work of science-fiction/sociology/foreign affairs. Yes, Supernova Erais all that, and so well orchestrated. Plus, it’s written by THE Chinese master of science-fiction, Liu Cixin,a nine-time winner of the Galaxy Award (China’s most prestigious literary science fiction award), among many other Chinese and international awards.Click to continue reading

BOOKS JUST READ

MYSTERY

NONFICTION

MYSTERY/AUDIO

Avalanche Hôtel:In 1980, Joshua wakes up in a hotel where he works as a security guard. He is interviewed by a cop about the disappearance of a girl. But he has a hard time remembering what he does there, where he is, and what really happened.
Then we jump to 2018. Joshua wakes up in the hospital after a period of coma due to an accident in an avalanche. During this coma, Joshua had vivid dreams, and he strongly believes his subconscious is trying to tell him something. His first step is to find that hotel, which has actually been abandoned for years. So what is really going on?
Who is he really? What was he doing in this dangerous place?
The book is set in Switzerland. I loved the atmosphere, with the abandoned hotel, and the way the author described the cold, the snow, and the spooky silence around. I hate snow and cold, but I have to say, it was so well done, I really could feel there!
I especially liked the constant shift between dream and reality. In Joshua’s mind, and for the reader.
There’s a lot in this book about memory, how it builds up on our past, and defines who we are.The narrator was great for the suspense and atmosphere.

CURRENTLY READING

CHINESE SCIFI

NONFICTION

CLASSIC/AUDIO

Supernova Era:Received for review on BOOKishFirst
After 3 meh books, finally a great one!
A supernova exploded, and because of the heat and radiation, people’s chromosomes are damaged. Only kids 13 and under will heal and survive. So the adults have only 12 months at most to train the children how to do everything and run the world.
And what happens after is sociologically quite fascinating!UPDATE: loved it, see my happy review!

Secret Agent Brainteasers:Received for review
Interesting book: it’s indeed a collection of brainteasers – actually quite difficult, I don’t think I’ll manage to solve one.
But the book is much more than that. Each chapter starts by explaining the historical background of spies, highlighting one theme per chapter, and then the teasers of that chapter focus on that theme.

Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes:I had no idea this book was so hilarious, about the people’s reactions to this Scottish foreigner travelling with a donkey in the middle of nowhere in France.
Fascinating overview of the time.

BOOKS UP NEXT

CLASSIC

FICTION

MYST/AUDIO

The synopses below are from Goodreads

On the Edge of the World
For Classics Spin #21.
“Based on a true story of an early Russian missionary bishop’s trip to Eastern Siberia. During his journey he learns through example and suffering that in indigenous peoples of all cultures there is dignity that must be recognized and built upon as a foundation for Christian conversion.”

If You Cross the RiverReceived for review
“From celebrated Belgian author Geneviève Damas, a modern fable about friendship, self-determination, and the power of words.
Illiterate, isolated, and held at arm’s length by a bitter father, François Sorrente has spent his seventeen years within narrow confines. By day he tends the family farm’s pigs; by night he manages the household chores. Still, François can’t help but wonder about the wider world and his place in it. Who was his mother, who he remembers not at all? And why is the opposite shore of the river, where his beloved older sister disappeared many years ago, forbidden to him?

The Archipelago of AnotherLifeI’ll listen to it in French, but it’s now available in English. I’ve been curious about this author.“A tense “Siberian Western” set in the inhospitable, boundless Russia taiga at the height of the Cold War.
On the far eastern borders of the Soviet Union, in the sunset of Stalin’s reign, soldiers are training for a war that could end all wars, for in the atomic age man has sown the seeds of his own destruction.
Among them is Pavel Gartsev, a reservist. Orphaned, scarred by the last great war and unlucky in love, he is an instant victim for the apparatchiks and ambitious careerists who thrive within the Red Army’s ranks.
Assigned to a search party composed of regulars and reservists, charged with the recapture of an escaped prisoner from a nearby gulag, Gartsev finds himself one of an unlikely quintet of cynics, sadists and heroes, embarked on a challenging manhunt through the Siberian taiga.
But the fugitive, capable, cunning and evidently at home in the depths of these vast forests, proves no easy prey. As the pursuit goes on, and the pursuers are struck by a shattering discovery, Gartsev confronts both the worst within himself and the tantalising prospect of another, totally different life.”